Let Saigon Be By Gone...

Sunrise in Nha Trang
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Our only option to leave our comfort zone of Hoi An was via an overnight bus. We booked the 12 hour journey to Nha Trang , arriving at 6 am the following morning. Everything was closed when we arrived, so we wandered the streets and beaches assessing how we were going to take on this city. It reminded us of a not-so-nice Ft. Lauderdale, and we found out that hotels were triple what we were paying in Hoi An, so we decided to just spend the day there. We booked overnight train tickets departing for Ho Chi Minh City at midnight, giving us the entire day to see Nha Trang . We tried to catch up on some sleep on the grass at the beach, but got kicked off; apparently the grass is only for looking at and not touching! So after a bit of a rest on the concrete walkway, we decided to rent a motorbike to do some exploring! For $3.50 we got the motorbike for half a day (helmets included), which was a nerve-wracking experience. Darting traffic, we cruised to an ancient Cham temple that dates back 1200 years; what amazing architecture! Our favorite spot though was the natural hot mineral springs and natural mudbath. For $4 each, we got to soak in our very own mudbath (we were two of the very few non-locals there, so no one wanted to share a bath with us!) Afterwards, we showered in the hot spring water and then soaked in another hot bath before enjoying waterfalls and a hot mineral water swimming pool. Very refreshing! On our way back to the beaches, we barely missed a 3 bike pile up (it literally happened 5 feet away from us while we were driving, so scary!) So, we decided to quit while we were ahead and returned the bike in one piece. We got to the train station to find out that our "soft seats" were called soft seats for a reason. They put us on a bed with two other people in a sleeper car; there were 12 grown adults jammed into an 8 ft wide x 8 ft long room containing 2 bunkbeds! Great...there was no way we were getting any sleep again! We were literally sitting on top of eachother for 9 hours! Not an experience either one of us ever hopes to repeat! By the time we reached Ho Chi Minh City , we were frazzled and at our wits end trying to find a guesthouse. Steph got sick of carrying her pack in the heat and sweating, so agreed to pay a motorcycle driver $1 to take us to the hotel area (yes, all 3 of us plus our two huge packs all squeezed onto a bike). Once we were dropped off, the driver saw Steph had a $10 bill in her wallet and demanded that instead! He tried to make a scene like we were ripping him off, grrr! Finally, we threw him $2 and walked away. We ended up spending two nights in the capital and we really enjoyed our time. We visited the War Remnants Museum, a must for anyone stopping over. Reading the one-sided history of the Vietnam War (or American War as they call it in Vietnam ) was certainly interesting and it stirred up so many emotions. Obviously (and understandably) the exhibits were very biased against America, but the horrific pictures on display were almost overwhelming. It was all so sad, it really made us appreciate how fortunate we are to have our freedom. They even had two baby fetus' affected by Agent Orange preserved in jars and on display, it was difficult to hold back the tears. Vietnam proved to be a very challenging place to travel through; it tested our patience on every level. The culture is what made it worthwhile. We ate a lot of good food, did a lot of silk shopping, and enjoyed learning various phrases in the super difficult language. Even though all the guidebooks warned of traveling during Tet (becuase that is the main holiday of the year for the locals), it is what made our Vietnam adventure so memorable...well, ok, that and the Pho ;)